diff --git a/src/infra/session-delivery-queue-recovery.ts b/src/infra/session-delivery-queue-recovery.ts
index b7e6c52d5d5..f37a6a2fc35 100644
--- a/src/infra/session-delivery-queue-recovery.ts
+++ b/src/infra/session-delivery-queue-recovery.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+import {
+  resolveDateTimestampMs,
+  resolveExpiresAtMsFromDurationMs,
+  resolveNonNegativeIntegerOption,
+} from "../shared/number-coercion.js";
 import { formatErrorMessage } from "./errors.js";
 import {
   ackSessionDelivery,
@@ -72,6 +77,14 @@ function resolveSessionDeliveryMaxRetries(entry: QueuedSessionDelivery): number
   return entry.maxRetries ?? MAX_SESSION_DELIVERY_RETRIES;
 }
 
+function resolveSessionDeliveryRecoveryDeadlineMs(maxRecoveryMs: number | undefined): number {
+  const durationMs = resolveNonNegativeIntegerOption(maxRecoveryMs, 60_000);
+  if (durationMs <= 0) {
+    return resolveDateTimestampMs(Date.now());
+  }
+  return resolveExpiresAtMsFromDurationMs(durationMs) ?? resolveDateTimestampMs(Date.now());
+}
+
 export function isSessionDeliveryEligibleForRetry(
   entry: QueuedSessionDelivery,
   now: number,
@@ -214,7 +227,7 @@ export async function recoverPendingSessionDeliveries(opts: {
 
   pending.sort((a, b) => a.enqueuedAt - b.enqueuedAt);
   const summary = createEmptyRecoverySummary();
-  const deadline = Date.now() + (opts.maxRecoveryMs ?? 60_000);
+  const deadline = resolveSessionDeliveryRecoveryDeadlineMs(opts.maxRecoveryMs);
 
   for (const entry of pending) {
     if (Date.now() >= deadline) {
diff --git a/src/infra/session-delivery-queue.recovery.test.ts b/src/infra/session-delivery-queue.recovery.test.ts
index 43ea17c320b..d48742c8903 100644
--- a/src/infra/session-delivery-queue.recovery.test.ts
+++ b/src/infra/session-delivery-queue.recovery.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { MAX_DATE_TIMESTAMP_MS } from "../shared/number-coercion.js";
 import { withTempDir } from "../test-helpers/temp-dir.js";
 import {
   drainPendingSessionDeliveries,
@@ -38,6 +39,44 @@ describe("session-delivery queue recovery", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("defers recovery when the recovery budget would exceed the date range", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    vi.setSystemTime(new Date(MAX_DATE_TIMESTAMP_MS));
+
+    await withTempDir({ prefix: "openclaw-session-delivery-" }, async (tempDir) => {
+      await enqueueSessionDelivery(
+        {
+          kind: "systemEvent",
+          sessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+          text: "leave queued",
+        },
+        tempDir,
+      );
+
+      const deliver = vi.fn(async () => undefined);
+      const warn = vi.fn();
+      const summary = await recoverPendingSessionDeliveries({
+        deliver,
+        stateDir: tempDir,
+        maxRecoveryMs: 1,
+        log: {
+          info: vi.fn(),
+          warn,
+          error: vi.fn(),
+        },
+      });
+
+      expect(deliver).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        "Session delivery recovery time budget exceeded — remaining entries deferred",
+      );
+      expect(summary.recovered).toBe(0);
+      expect(await loadPendingSessionDeliveries(tempDir)).toHaveLength(1);
+    });
+
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
   it("keeps failed entries queued with retry metadata for later recovery", async () => {
     await withTempDir({ prefix: "openclaw-session-delivery-" }, async (tempDir) => {
       await enqueueSessionDelivery(